Day 1. Arrival to Lima. Transfer from the airport to a hotel. In the evening a walk to Plaza de Armas and the city center.
Day 2. Tour of the city’s highlights, including the colonial centre, the cathedral, presidential palace, old station of the former world’s highest railway and the seafront in Miraflores. In the evening we will go to Pisco.
Day 3. A boat cruise to the Ballestas Islands. Observing marine fauna: sea birds, penguins, sea lions. In the afternoon we will visit the National Reserve of Paracas with its outstanding desert landscapes, dunes, kliffs and marine fauna.
Day 4. In the morning we will travel to Ica in order to visit giant sand dunes and an oasis. In the afternoon bus transfer to Nazca.
Day 5. Visiting Cementario de Chauchilla - a cemetery of ancient Nasca people with remarkably preserved mummies due to the sun and dry climate. Later an excursion to the Nazca plateau with its famous giant lines and drawings. An optional flight over the Nazca desert (additional cost - approximately 100 USD). Then we will travel on a night bus to Arequipa.
Day 6. Breakfast in a hotel, and then sightseeing Arequipa, a city built of volcanic stone and thus called “the white city”: Plaza de Armas; Museo Santuarios Andinos with the famous mummy of Juanita found in the summit of Volcan Ampato; Santa Catalina convent; local market with infinite varieties of fruits, vegetables, cheese and sweets. You can try coca tea and roasted guinea pig.
Day 7. We will travel to Chivay in the Colca Canyon to see one of the deepest canyons on Earth. Exploring upper parts of the canyon with its Inca agriculturar terraces and a visit to rural hot springs.
Day 8. We will visit the lower part of the Colca Canyon: Cruz de Condor – where you can see condors and peer into the deepest part of the canyon, then pass by traditional villages of Yanque and Cobanaconde. For a night we will return to Arequipa.
Day 9. We will travel to Puno – a town on the shores of Lake Titicaca (altitude 3812 m). We will visit "Yavari" steam ship – a remnant from the Peruvian XIX-century fleet.
Day 10. A boat cruise to the floating reed islands of Uros in the middle of Lake Titicaca. In the afternoon an excursion to the monumental tombs of Sillustani, built of exquisite stonework by the Qolla people in the vicinity of the nearby Lake Umayo.
Day 11. In the morning we will travel to Copacabana - a pictoresque port in the Bolivian part of Lake Titicaca, from where we will set off to Isla del Sol (the Sun Island) - a legendary place of birth of the first Incas. We will stay overnight on the island.
Day 12. Exploring Isla del Sol, where some tiny isolated Aymara and Quechua communities live. You will see "the Rock of Puma" or "Titi Caca" which gave the name to the lake and have a chance to observe traditional Andean way of living, taste local dishes and relax by the azure waters of the giant lake surrounded by the snow-capped Andes. For a night we will return to Copacabana.
Day 13. We will return to Puno and then travel by bus to Cuzco, through the spectacular mountain pass of La Raya (4338 m).
Day 14. Sightseeing Cuzco – the ancient capital of the Incas. Visiting Plaza de Armas, the cathedral, narrow streets with surviving Inca walls, fruit and handcraft markets and the citadel of Sacsayhuamán overlooking the city.
Day 15. We will set off for the Urubamba valley and visit a fortress in Pisac, with ancient terraces as well as the ruins of the Inca stronghold in Ollantaytambo, with preserved Incan granaries and a half-built temple, constructed of enormous, precisely cut and adjusted boulders, which were carried by up to 2500 workers from the other side of the valley. In the evening we will travel by train to Aguas Calientes, a village at the foot of Machu Picchu.
Day 16. We will spend the whole day in the ruins of Machu Picchu – the Lost City of the Incas.
Day 17. Return to Cuzco via Ollantaytambo. On the way back we will visit salt ponds in Maras, still in use since Inca times, and unusual Inca ruins in Moray, consisting of several enormous terraced circular depressions. You will also have an opportunity to buy original handcraft in the Indian market in Chinchero.
Day 18. An excursion to the hot springs in Lares or - optionally - free time and rest in Cuzco.
Day 19. Transfer to the airport in Cuzco and return to Lima. Afternoon at leisure. You will have time for last minute shopping and trying traditional Peruvian dishes and beverages, like ceviche and pisco sour.
Day 20. Transfer to the airport in Lima and return to Europe.
Please note: In the event of unexpected and unforeseen circumstances or when requested by the whole group, the itinerary of the tour may be slightly changed.